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West Side Story (1961 film)
| runtime = 152 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = $6 million | gross = $44.1 million }} West Side Story is a 1961 American musical romantic drama film directed by Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins. The film is an adaptation of the 1957 Broadway musical of the same name, which in turn was inspired by William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet. It stars Natalie Wood, Richard Beymer, Russ Tamblyn, Rita Moreno, and George Chakiris, and was photographed by Daniel L. Fapp in Super Panavision 70. Released on October 18, 1961, through United Artists, the film received high praise from critics and viewers, and became the second highest-grossing film of the year in the United States. The film was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won 10, including Best Picture (in addition to a special award for Robbins), becoming the record holder for the most wins for a musical. The film has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress and was selected for the National Film Registry in 1997. A remake of the same name by Steven Spielberg is set to be released in 2020, starring Ansel Elgort. Plot In the summer of 1957 in the West Side's Lincoln Square neighborhood in Manhattan, there is tension between a white American gang, the Jets, led by Riff (Russ Tamblyn), and a Puerto Rican gang, the Sharks, led by Bernardo (George Chakiris). After a brawl erupts, Lieutenant Schrank (Simon Oakland) and Officer Krupke (William Bramley) arrive and break it up, ordering both gangs to cease any further brawling or face arrest. Despite their warning, the Jets decide to challenge the Sharks to a rumble at an upcoming dance for neighborhood control. Riff decides that his best friend Tony (Richard Beymer), the co-founder of the Jets who left the gang, should fight. Riff invites Tony to the dance, but Tony is uninterested. He tells Riff that he senses something important will happen, which Riff suggests could have a correlation with the dance. Bernardo's younger sister, Maria (Natalie Wood), tells her best friend and Bernardo's girlfriend, Anita (Rita Moreno), how excited she is about the dance. At the dance, the gangs and women refuse to intermingle, despite attempts by jovial social-worker GladHand (an uncredited John Astin). Tony arrives and he and Maria fall in love. However, Bernardo angrily demands that Tony stay away from her. Riff proposes a meeting with Bernardo at Doc's drug store. Maria is sent home; Anita argues that Bernardo is overprotective of Maria and they compare the advantages of Puerto Rico and the United States with the women expressing their preference for the United States and the men expressing the difficulties of living in the United States. Tony discreetly visits Maria on her fire escape, where they reaffirm their love. Krupke, who suspects the Jets are planning something, visits them outside Doc's drug store, and warns them not to cause trouble. Doc, the owner of the drug store, (Ned Glass) also questions the necessity of fighting, but the Jets ignore him. When the Sharks arrive, both groups agree to have the showdown the following evening under the highway, with a one-on-one fist fight. When Schrank arrives, the gangs feign friendship. Schrank does not buy it, and orders the Sharks out and unsuccessfully tries to discover information about the fight. After he leaves, Tony tells Doc about his newfound love, leaving Doc concerned. The next day at the bridal shop, Anita accidentally tells Maria about the rumble. Tony arrives to see Maria, which shocks Anita. They profess their love and Anita warns them about the consequences if Bernardo learns of their relationship. Maria has Tony promise to prevent the rumble. Tony and Maria fantasize about their wedding ceremony. The Jets and Sharks approach the area under the highway. Tony arrives to stop the fight, but Bernardo antagonizes him. Unwilling to watch Tony be humiliated, Riff attacks Bernardo, and both gang leaders draw knives. Tony tries to intervene, which leads to Bernardo killing Riff. In a moment of blind rage, Tony kills Bernardo with Riff's knife and a melee ensues. Police sirens blare and everyone flees, leaving behind the dead bodies. Tony lingers a moment realizing in horror what he's done, and is nearly caught as searchlights start to probe the area, but he manages to escape too. Maria waits for Tony on the rooftop of her apartment building when her fiancé Chino arrives and tells her what happened. Maria is stunned by hrror and disbelief, until Tony arrives and explains what transpired. He asks for her forgiveness before he turns himself in to the police. Maria confirms her love for him and asks Tony to stay with her. The Jets have reassembled outside a garage, with their new leader, Ice, having them focus on reacting to the police. Anybodys arrives and warns them that Chino is now after Tony. Ice sends the Jets to warn Tony. Anita enters the apartment while Tony and Maria are in the bedroom. Tony and Maria arrange to meet at Doc's, where they will pick up getaway money to elope. Anita spots Tony leaving through the window and chides Maria for the relationship, but Maria convinces her to help them elope. Schrank arrives and questions Maria about the rumble. To cover for Tony, Maria has Anita tell him that Maria is detained from meeting him. When Anita reaches Doc's, the Jets harass her, until Doc intervenes. Anita declares that Bernardo was right about them and that Chino killed Maria. Doc banishes the Jets and gives Tony his getaway money in the basement and delivers Anita's message. Tony runs into the streets, shouting for Chino to kill him as well. In the playground next to Doc's, Tony spots Maria and they run toward each other, only for Chino to shoot Tony. The Jets and Sharks arrive to find Maria holding Tony, who dies in her arms. Maria stops the gangs from fighting, takes the gun from Chino and threatens to shoot everyone, blaming their hate for the deaths. Schrank, Krupke and Doc arrive and the gangs form a funeral procession, with Maria following. The police arrest Chino and lead him away. Cast *Natalie Wood as Maria, Bernardo's younger sister, who falls in love with Tony. She is the arranged fiancée of Chino **Marni Nixon as Maria's singing voice *Richard Beymer as Tony, co-founder and one-time member of the Jets, but remains the best friend of Riff; works at Doc's drug store, and becomes Maria's star-crossed lover **Jimmy Bryant as Tony's singing voice *Russ Tamblyn as Riff, leader of the Jets, best friend of Tony **Tucker Smith as Ice and as Riff's singing voice for "Jet Song" (Tamblyn did his own singing for "Gee, Officer Krupke!" and "Quintet") *Rita Moreno as Anita, Bernardo's girlfriend, and Maria's closest confidante **Betty Wand as Anita's singing voice for "A Boy Like That" (Moreno did her own singing for "America" and "Quintet") *George Chakiris as Bernardo, leader of the Sharks, older brother of Maria and Anita's boyfriend *Simon Oakland as Police Lieutenant Schrank, a hard-boiled plainclothes detective *William Bramley as Police Sergeant Krupke, a brusque beat cop (Bramley reprised his role from the original Broadway production) *Ned Glass as Doc, drugstore owner, Tony's boss; a decent, elderly man Uncredited *John Astin as Glad Hand, well-meaning but ineffective social worker *Penny Santon as Madam Lucia, bridal shop owner Jets *Tucker Smith as Ice (a character created for the film), Riff's lieutenant; becomes leader of the Jets after Riff's death *Tony Mordente as Action, a short-tempered Jet. *Eliot Feld as Baby John, the youngest member of the Jets; a relative innocent *David Winters as A-Rab, Baby John's closest friend *Bert Michaels as Snowboy *David Bean as Tiger *Robert Banas as Joyboy *Anthony 'Scooter' Teague as Big Deal *Harvey Evans (Harvey Hohnecker) as Mouthpiece *Tommy Abbott as Gee-Tar Jet Girls *Susan Oakes as Anybodys, a tomboy and wannabe Jet *Gina Trikonis as Graziella, Riff's girlfriend *Carole D'Andrea as Velma, Ice's girlfriend Uncredited *Rita Hyde d'Amico as Clarice, Big Deal's girlfriend *Pat Tribble as Minnie, Baby John's girlfriend *Francesca Bellini as Debby, Snowboy's girlfriend *Elaine Joyce as Hotsie, Tiger's girlfriend Sharks * as Chino Martin, Bernardo's best friend, who is the arranged fiancé of Maria *Jay Norman as Pepe, Bernardo's lieutenant *Gus Trikonis as Indio, Pepe's best friend *Eddie Verso as Juano *Jaime Rogers as Loco *Larry Roquemore as Rocco *Robert Thompson as Luis *Nick Covacevich as Toro *Rudy Del Campo as Del Campo *Andre Tayir as Chile Shark Girls *Yvonne (Othon) Wilder as Consuelo, Pepe's girlfriend *Suzie Kaye as Rosalia, Indio's girlfriend *Joanne Miya as Francisca, Toro's girlfriend Uncredited *Maria Jimenez Henley as Teresita, Juano's girlfriend *Yvonne (Othon) Wilder as Alicia, Chile's girlfriend *Luci Stone as Estella, Loco's girlfriend *Olivia Perez as Margarita, Rocco's girlfriend Musical numbers Act I # "Overture" – Orchestra # "Prologue" – Orchestra # "Jet Song" – Riff and Jets # "Something's Coming" – Tony # "Dance at the Gym" – Orchestra # "Maria" – Tony # "America" – Anita, Bernardo, Sharks and Girls # "Tonight" – Tony and Maria # "Gee, Officer Krupke" – Riff and Jets # "Maria (violin)" – Orchestra Act II # "I Feel Pretty" – Maria, Consuelo, Rosalia, and Francisca # "One Hand, One Heart" – Tony and Maria # "Tonight Quintet" – Maria, Tony, Anita, Riff, Bernardo, Jets, and Sharks # "The Rumble" – Orchestra # "Somewhere" – Tony and Maria # "Cool" – Ice and Jets # "A Boy Like That/I Have a Love" – Anita and Maria # "Somewhere (Reprise)" – Maria # "Finale" – Orchestra Production Veteran director Robert Wise was chosen to direct and produce because of his experience with urban New York dramas such as Odds Against Tomorrow (1959). Because he had no experience directing a musical, Wise agreed that Jerome Robbins, who had directed the stage version of West Side Story, would direct the musical and dance sequences. After about one-third of the movie had been shot, The Mirisch Company, concerned that the production was running over-budget, dismissed Robbins. The remaining dance numbers were directed with the help of Robbins' assistants. Recognizing Robbins' considerable creative contribution to the film, Wise agreed that Robbins should be given co-directing credit. Robbins and Wise also kept in contact and discussed the production, with Wise taking on board many of Robbins' suggestions about the editing of the film. The opening titles and end credits sequences were created by Saul Bass with Elaine Makatura Bass. Bernstein and Laurents, who had been blacklisted for alleged communist activities, worked with Robbins even though he had cooperated with the House Un-American Activities Committee.Rockwell, John. "American Bodies", The New York Times, December 31, 2006. Retrieved August 12, 2019 Bernstein, Robbins, Sondheim and Laurents were all gay, closeted and Jewish. Exterior shots used the buildings of Lincoln Square, which were vacant and about to be torn down, allowing them to be used as a set. Casting Although Robbins pushed for 29-year-old Carol Lawrence, the first Maria, to be cast in the same role in the film, after seeing her screen test the producers agreed she was too old to play the part. A number of other cast members from the Broadway and West End productions were cast in the film. Tony Mordente, who played A-Rab on stage, was cast as Action in the film, and George Chakiris, Riff in the London stage production, played Bernardo in the film. Tucker Smith, who joined the Broadway production several months into its run, played Diesel, renamed Ice for the film. David Winters, the first stage Baby John, played A-Rab, Eliot Feld, an ensemble member and understudy for Baby John on Broadway, played Baby John. Jay Norman, Juano on stage, appeared as Pepe. Reprising their stage roles in the film were Carole D'Andrea as Velma, Tommy Abott as Gee-Tar, and William Bramley as Officer Krupke. Elvis Presley was approached for Tony, but his manager Colonel Tom Parker turned down the part. Others who were considered for the part included Tab Hunter, Russ Tamblyn, Warren Beatty, Burt Reynolds, Richard Chamberlain, and Robert Redford. Hunter, then 30, and Reynolds, then 25, were considered for the part due to their Broadway and singing credits, but they were dismissed because of their age. Reynolds was considered "too tough" for the part. Chamberlain was believed to be "too mature" for the role. Tamblyn impressed producer Robert Wise, and was given the supporting role of Riff. Ultimately, Richard Beymer won the part of Tony. Natalie Wood was filming Splendor in the Grass with Warren Beatty and was involved with him romantically off-screen. The producers were not considering her for the role of Maria at that time. When considering Beatty for the role of Tony, Robert Wise requested a reel of his work. However, after seeing a clip from Splendor in the Grass, the producers decided his co-star Wood was perfect for Maria, but Beatty was not suitable for the role of Tony. Jill St. John, Audrey Hepburn, Diane Baker, Jane Fonda, Elizabeth Ashley, and Suzanne Pleshette were among the many actresses who were considered for the role of Maria in the film. Reception for West Side Story.]] Bosley Crowther of The New York Times wrote: "in knocking it down and moving it from stage to screen is to reconstruct its fine material into nothing short of a cinema masterpiece.” Whitney Williams of Variety was also positive, writing: "Technically, it is superb; use of color is dazzling, camera work often is thrilling, editing fast with dramatic punch, production design catches mood as well as action itself.” The Hollywood Reporter called it: “a magnificent show, a milestone in movie musicals, a box-office smash. It is so good that superlatives are superfluous. Let it be noted that the film musical, the one dramatic form that is purely American and purely Hollywood, has never been done better.” By contrast, Pauline Kael derided the film as "frenzied hokum," decrying that the dialogue was "painfully old-fashioned and mawkish” and the dancing was a "simpering, sickly romantic ballet". Roger Ebert|last=Ebert|first=Roger|website=www.rogerebert.com|access-date=2019-02-15}} West Side Story holds a 93% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 62 reviews for an average rating of 8.3/10; the site's critical consensus states: "Buoyed by Robert Wise's dazzling direction, Leonard Bernstein's score, and Stephen Sondheim's lyrics, West Side Story remains perhaps the most iconic of all the Shakespeare adaptations to visit the big screen." Retrieved July 19, 2014 Box office The film earned United Artists rentals of $19,645,000 in the United States and Canada to be the highest-grossing musical of all-time. It grossed $44.1 million worldwide ($370 million in 2019). Because of profit participation, United Artists only earned a profit of $2.5 million on the film.Tino Balio, United Artists: The Company That Changed the Film Industry, University of Wisconsin Press, 1987, p. 177 Accolades and honors Its 10 Academy Awards make it the musical film with the most Academy wins, including Best Picture. Academy Awards Awards *Academy Award for Best Picture – Robert Wise, producer *Academy Award for Best Director – Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins *Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor – George Chakiris *Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress – Rita Moreno *Academy Award for Best Art Direction – Set Decoration (Color) – Victor A. Gangelin and Boris Leven *Academy Award for Best Cinematography (Color) – Daniel L. Fapp *Academy Award for Best Costume Design (Color) – Irene Sharaff *Academy Award for Best Film Editing – Thomas Stanford *Academy Award for Best Original Score – Saul Chaplin, Johnny Green, Irwin Kostal, and Sid Ramin *Academy Award for Best Sound – Fred Hynes (Todd-AO SSD), and Gordon E. Sawyer (Samuel Goldwyn SSD) ;Nominations *Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay – Ernest Lehman Others *At the 34th Academy Awards, Jerome Robbins received an Academy Honorary Award "for his brilliant achievements in the art of choreography on film". American Film Institute lists: *AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies – #41 *AFI's 100 Years...100 Passions – #3 *AFI's 100 Years...100 Songs: **"Somewhere" – #20 **"America" – #35 **"Tonight" – #59 *AFI's Greatest Movie Musicals – #2 *AFI's 100 Years...100 Movies (10th Anniversary Edition) – #51 The film's cast appeared and was honored at the 50th anniversary of West Side Story at the 2011 Ventura Film Festival. Score and soundtrack Leonard Bernstein was displeased with the orchestrations for the movie, which was the work of Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal, who had orchestrated the original Broadway production. That show had been orchestrated for roughly 30 musicians; for the movie, United Artists allowed them triple that, including six saxophone parts, eight trumpets, five pianos and five xylophones. Bernstein found it "overbearing and lacking in texture and subtlety." Stephen Sondheim, who did not like the sequence of the songs in the Broadway version, had the song "Gee, Officer Krupke" being sung before the rumble in place of the song "Cool" which is sung instead after the rumble; the song "I Feel Pretty" is also sung before the rumble instead of after. In addition, the song "America" was sung in-between the two love songs "Maria" and "Tonight", instead of having the two love songs being sung consecutively. The "Somewhere" ballet was omitted, because it slowed down the pace of the film, and was sung instead by Tony and Maria. Reprises of the lyrics were omitted as well, especially in the songs "One Hand, One Heart" and "A Boy Like That". Some lyrics were changed in order to avoid censorship, especially in the songs "Jet Song", "Gee, Officer Krupke", "America" and the "Tonight Quintet". Even the phrase "Womb to Tomb, Sperm to Worm" between Riff and Tony had to be replaced with "Womb to Tomb, Birth to Earth" between Riff and Tony near the beginning of the film and "One-Two-Three, One-Two-Three" between Riff and Diesel in the Quintet. As provided in her contract, Wood prerecorded her songs and allowed the production team to decide whether to use her voice. She found the songs challenging, but was allowed to film her scenes lip-synching to her own vocals and was led to believe that these versions would be used, although music supervisors Saul Chaplin and Johnny Green had already decided to use Marni Nixon's voice. Wood's singing voice is only heard during the reprise of the song "Somewhere" when Tony dies. Though Nixon had recorded the songs in the same orchestra sessions as Wood, she had to re-record them to synch with Wood's filmed performances. Even the one song for which Wood had lip-synched to Nixon's voice, "One Hand, One Heart", had to be recorded again because Wood's lip-synching was unsatisfactory. When Marni Nixon learned that she had not signed a contract for participating in the recording and demanded a percentage of the LP record, she was told that all percentages had been allocated. Bernstein gave her 0.25% of his album royalties. This set a precedent for all future "ghost singers"."Secret Voices of Hollywood, BBC Four" by Claudia Pritchard, The Arts Desk, 30 September 2013; review of this program. Beymer's vocals were performed by Jimmy Bryant. Tucker Smith, who played Ice, dubbed the singing voice of Riff in "Jet Song", instead of Russ Tamblyn. Tamblyn's own voice was used in "Gee, Officer Krupke" and the "Quintet". Rita Moreno was dubbed by Betty Wand in the song "A Boy Like That" because the song needed to be performed at a register that was too low for her. However, Moreno sang her own vocals in "America". Marni Nixon sang some of Moreno's parts in the "Quintet" when illness prevented Moreno from doing so. Wand was also ill on the day of final recording, and so Nixon recorded Anita's vocal line as well. For the 50th anniversary of the film's 1961 release, a score closer to the Broadway version was created by Garth Edwin Sunderland of the Leonard Bernstein Office to be performed live at screenings of the movie with the score removed, but with the original vocals maintained. The score's New York City premiere was presented at Lincoln Center's David Geffen Hall, called Avery Fisher Hall at the time, built atop the original film locations, which were razed in a late 1950s urban renewal project. The Stan Kenton Orchestra recorded Kenton's West Side Story, an entire album of Johnny Richards' jazz orchestrations based on the Bernstein scores in 1961. It was previewed at Capitol Records by the producers of the motion picture during the editing and mix down who lamented that, had they known of its existence, it would have been used as the musical foundation of the new film. The Kenton version won the 1962 Grammy Award for Best Jazz Recording by a Large Group. A still picture from the movie is the front cover of the Kenton LP. Legacy In 2009, photographer Mark Seliger re-created scenes from the film for magazine Vanity Fair called West Side Story Revisited, using Camilla Belle as Maria, Ben Barnes as Tony, Jennifer Lopez as Anita, Rodrigo Santoro as Bernardo and Chris Evans as Riff. Portraying the Sharks are Minka Kelly, Jay Hernandez, Natalie Martinez, Brandon T. Jackson and Melonie Diaz. Portraying the Jets are Ashley Tisdale, Sean Faris, Robert Pattinson, Cam Gigandet, Trilby Glover, Brittany Snow and Drake Bell. Remake A remake of the film is planned to be released on December 18, 2020, directed by Steven Spielberg and choreographed by Justin Peck, starring Rachel Zegler as Maria and Ansel Elgort as Tony. See also *List of American films of 1961 References External links * * * * * *[http://www.westsidestory.com/register_film.php Official West Side Story site for all incarnations] }} Category:1961 films Category:1960s musical films Category:1960s romantic drama films Category:American films Category:American dance films Category:American musical drama films Category:American romantic musical films Category:American teen musical films Category:English-language films Category:Films directed by Robert Wise Category:Best Musical or Comedy Picture Golden Globe winners Category:Best Picture Academy Award winners Category:Films about race and ethnicity Category:Films about racism Category:Films based on musicals Category:Films based on Romeo and Juliet Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Academy Award-winning performance Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe winning performance Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Academy Award-winning performance Category:Films featuring a Best Supporting Actress Golden Globe-winning performance Category:Films scored by Johnny Green Category:Films scored by Saul Chaplin Category:Films scored by Irwin Kostal Category:Films set in 1957 Category:Films set in New York City Category:Films set in New York (state) Category:Films shot in New York City Category:Films that won the Best Costume Design Academy Award Category:Films that won the Best Original Score Academy Award Category:Films that won the Best Sound Mixing Academy Award Category:Films whose art director won the Best Art Direction Academy Award Category:Films whose cinematographer won the Best Cinematography Academy Award Category:Films whose editor won the Best Film Editing Academy Award Category:Films with screenplays by Ernest Lehman Category:American gang films Category:Films about interracial romance Category:American historical romance films Category:Modern adaptations of works by William Shakespeare Category:United States National Film Registry films Category:United Artists films Category:American romantic drama films Category:Compositions by Leonard Bernstein Category:1960s gang films Category:1960s teen romance films Category:1960s musical drama films Category:Musicals by Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim